Desert Bus, The Torrent
Written by Ernesto on March 02, 2006Desert bus is probably one of the best games ever. Unfortunately the game was never released, until now. 11 years after the planned release date Waxy is hosting a torrent for this mythical game. The game is part of a long-lost Penn and Teller videogame.
The goal of the game is pretty straightforward. You have to [...]
Desert bus is probably one of the best games ever. Unfortunately the game was never released, until now. 11 years after the planned release date Waxy is hosting a torrent for this mythical game. The game is part of a long-lost Penn and Teller videogame.
The goal of the game is pretty straightforward. You have to drive a Bus through the desert from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas. The hard part is that the whole trip is in real-time, so it takes 8 hours at least. And it gets even better:
There is no scenery or even other cars on the road, just plain desert, for 8 hours. Oh, and your bus veers to the right just slightly, so it’s impossible to just tape down a button and go do something else. Rumor has it that if you make it to Vegas, you score one point.

Really, you have to try this one.
So grab the torrent (810MB, it’s a collection of great games), install a free SEGA cd emulator, and you’re ready to go.
Have a nice trip. I will give 10$ 25$ to the first person who beats the game, mail me.
Instructions: (from waxy.org) If you have an actual Sega CD, just burn the disc images and you’re set. Otherwise, you’ll need a copy of the GENS emulator and the Sega CD BIOS to play. After unpacking both archives, start the emulator and go to the “Options: BIOS” menu. Set the “Sega CD BIOS: USA” directory to the folder you saved the BIOS file in. Then use “File: Open ROM” to open “PTSM1.bin.”
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156 Responses
Hmmmm……wow..yeah wow that is all I have to say. This game is really kind of weird. I might have to play this when I have nothing else..I mean nothing else to for the rest of my life. Really what is the point. I mean I devote 52 hours of my life to Final Fantasy, but I mean that is a really good game for anyone. But to spend hours driving a bus down a long desert road. I don’t know I might download it to see what is so good that a company would dig it up just to give it out. ^_^
810Megs for this Game?!? Probably the programmer had a longer nap on the keyboard… :-)
Actually the download is a pack of various minigames. The Desert Bus thing just sounds too good to be true so I picked that one for the story. ;)
More games and the reviewÂ
thanks for enlightening me, Ernesto. :-) Cool site and logo by the way, keep going. Good luck and a lot of power for the PHD!
M
thanks :) gonna need it..
It is part of the Penn and Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors game for Sega CD that was never released. It had a number of comical mini games and this was one of them. It was originally unearthed on the internet a year ago.
Next.
and all this time i thought it was gta just shows you cant trust some things :-)
wait! You said, 810 MBs?? For a game that the scenery never changes??
You can download it as compressed disc images..
link
(453.5 MB)
Hah, I remember seeing the Hands-On preview for this in Electronic Gaming Monthly some 10 or 11 years ago. I remember wanting it in the worst way (i didn’t know it was never actually released) but didn’t have a SegaCD. Man, I can’t believe this actually got scrapped - I’ll definately have to pick it up now though!
Seeds anyone?
haha!! This reminds me of flight simulator for the IBM PCjr. fly fly fly for hours without any scenery. loads of fun for the whole family!
Are you guys retarded, he said “collection” of games.
flight simulator for the IBM PCj had a combat mode. I was the nazi killing sky king!
Never declare war before crossing the border and lining up their runway for a straffing run!
Penn and Teller..
They’re funny…. Looking..
“(810MB, it’s a collection of great games)”
No, it’s a COLLECTION of games. -_-
those weren’t nazis flying around on the PCjr…just plain Germans in biplanes, during WWI.
?so why is the torent so big
i’m gettin it right nw\ow… im going to try and beat it:P:P
Because its straight road for 8 hours!
imagine about 2 billion bitmap images!
I just got to play it. And all I can say is, Wow! This seems like the most borring game i have ever seen in my life. But I am determained to get that $25. And I might be going to a small LAN party this weekend, so maybe I can play there.
some of ya’ll can’t read apparently
This game is mad, i can’t take my eyes off it. I have 3 days of lunch still waiting for me at the table. Long live the wookies !!
Dr. Jones MD
im gonna need this for the lonely nights at my house :’(
Finally! A real time Tucson to Vegas driving adventure. The physics of this game are so complex - it unreal!
yo
if anyone needs cheap medical advice, please call on 5550126
“Hmmmm……wow..yeah wow that is all I have to say. This game is really kind of weird. I might have to play this when I have nothing else..I mean nothing else to for the rest of my life. Really what is the point. I mean I devote 52 hours of my life to Final Fantasy, but I mean that is a really good game for anyone. But to spend hours driving a bus down a long desert road. I don’t know I might download it to see what is so good that a company would dig it up just to give it out. ^_^
By Soulxlight on 03.02.06 10:09 pM”
Soulxlight, you obviously have no sense of humor because it is a joke, a spoof, a bit of fun. Nobody is going to sit there and play it for 8 hours..that’s the point!!
How can anyone think it’s a serios game. My god some people are thick.
I can’t believe there are people who are willing to play this game!
Get a life people!
“Because its straight road for 8 hours!
imagine about 2 billion bitmap images!”
Acutally, you’d just need to repeat one bitmap over, and over, and over again.
Nikki, you obviously have no sense of humor because it is a joke, a spoof, a bit of fun. Nobody is going to sit there and play it for 8 hours..that’s the point!!
How can anyone think it’s a serios game. My god some people are thick.
I don’t understand what everyone is thinking about this…
it sounds great.
Gens and just about every other emulator supports save states,
play for a few minutes, and save
stfunoobs
Has anyone gone for the 25 bucks? Hell, I will.. if no one has…
hmmm…made my sega eh? can’t possibly be any worse than the ladest sonic games XD
I remember seeing something about this game years ago and there was supposed to be a bug that hits your windshield about 4 hours into it.
Is this part of the Beckett Exisegalist Series?
I made it to Vegas!! Trust me it’s totally worth it.
All it needs is a woman telling you “we should have asked for directions” and a couple of brats in in the back screaming “are we there yet? are we there yet?”.
Now THAT would be a REAL driving simulator. lol
Yes lets do it. Start a fund I’ll build a robot out of legos!! Email me well get this thing goin!!
8 hours, Now the fame for a win would be cool but 8 hours, I nake more than that in 2 hours at work. Could drivin a Bus to Vegas Be work?
I got to 7:59 and fell asleep @ the wheel and crashed the bus…
Seriously though, what?
Haha, I know what’s at the end. Using a modern computer and a good emulator you can just 2x/4x/8x the speed :P. So the trip took alot less time. Anyways it is hilarious. But bring lotsa lotsa cash, vegas is expensive :P
810MB That must be one really big game… And no I can’t read, and yes I’m being sarcastic….
Someone should release this and Big Rigs (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/bigrigsotrr/review.html) as a Mega Pack. I would buy it.
I love it!
Im totally going to check it out
——————–
http://www.wirah.com
This is some complex shit man - I can’t believe they never released this.
State of the Art. Why aren’t games this good anymore?
Mike: ever heard about sarcasm? Look it up in the dictionary (the dusty book in your bookshelf).
LOL
Jesus.. I started downloading your video game… it is freaking huge!!
absolutley superb!! if they released this I would buy it.
I bet this will be popular with bus drivers on their days off.
Jesus.. I started downloading your video game… it is freaking huge!!
__________________________________
That’s a good one tiny Elvis!
At least with an emulator you can save your progress. I can just imagine playing this on a real system and having the power go out 7 hours in.
Can anyone post a speedrun for this game? :)
like, ummm… why not turn off your computer and just drive to Vegas instead?
Bus Log, 001
Time? 9:15am Mountain time, Work? Day off. Rum & Coke? Check. Nacho’s? Check. Porn stash? Check.
ETA of Vegas 6:15PM.
See you at the beach.
Penn has been talking about this on his radio show. He said they wanted to give a huge prize to the first person to score 100 points (800 hours of game play) including a trip to Vegas.
link
penn talking about the game
OMGWTFBBQ ô0
have fun.
Can someone up this particular game to rapidshare/megaupload/wherever so that those of us who can’t use torrents can get it and play it?
Wow thats weird…well I am going to beat it tomorrow on Saturday..I will get up at 8:00…and then I should be done by 4:00….Ill post screens as well…:P..not
How did they unit-test it though?
people on the internet are phunny. im downloading the torrent at 600k/sec. that’s freakin fast! thats like unheard of. a bunch of you weirdos must be out there seeding and stuff to make it download that fast.
How do I get disk 2 in, in Gens, it just reboots then demands that I put disk one back in. Is Desert bus it or can we play the other games on it?
Ok.. i would download this but im afraid im gonna mess up and not know how to open the file and waste my time… not that it will matter i always waste time
but it takes 6 and a half hrs
or less if yer ahem… speeding
here is a mirror of the game in case the original link goes down: http://torrentfreak.com/images/desert%20bus.png
haha, good one
EGM actually got to vegas for their magazine when they did the review. They set up shifts and everyone took turns driving for an hour overnight. And yeah, when they got there, you guessed it - they got 1 point. Even funnier is that you get the option to drive back.
woah. this torrent gave me 400kb/s!
Did anyone notice that the bus seems to be completely empty too if you look at the mirror? That is also the funny part.
Someone beat it already and show me em pics.
This is the stupidest thing i’ve ever encountered on the internet. Well, This and that time I bought a used tampon on ebay. It was cotton from a tylenol bottle and some koolaid. Waste of my $32!
Nevermind, I will try it when I take the bus from Tucson to Las Vagas
ude, lets have competions, see who can get there the fastest?
This is what the damned play in hell…
The really dedicated pros play this in one window and Progress Quest (http://www.progressquest.com/) in another window.
http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=penntellerssmokeandmirrors0011.png
Do I get the $25?
Matt, email the full screenshot to me :)
Does anyone have a trainer for this game? I’m trying to get the bus to veer to the left for some variety. Multi-player would be cool. Thanks!
I live in Tucson and have driven to Las Vegas…why would I want to do it in a video game? =P
i am very confused!! i cant figure out how to get the bus moving!! the steering wheel turns with the arrow keys but the bus wont move….some pleez help
Buga,
I think the point is it’s an endurance test and perhaps also a jab at the computer game censor crowd?
“I think the point is it’s an endurance test and perhaps also a jab at the computer game censor crowd?”
Penn explained it a few days ago on his podcast. It is certainly a spoof game and was created in retaliation to the game censorship ship concerns by Janet Reno at the time.
Apparently, for every trip you completed, you got 1 point. According to Penn, they had intended to have a real competition for whoever got the high score, and they would win a prize package including a real trip on the desert party bus.
Yeah you do get 1 point per journey as shown in my screenshot.
Hi friends,can I get this game from anther way?I mean downloading it from “http”or “FTP” rather than “BT”
Use speed-gear program( link ) to speed it up :P
说什么呢?
I am a chinese
I love it,too…..(哇,楼上的åŒèƒžå•Šï¼‰
810MB?Is it true?(楼上的,æ¡æ‰‹å§)
my english is very poor!
(哈哈哈哈 楼上 çš„ 楼上的楼上 说的好ï¼ï¼‰
oh my god what a long timeï¼I believe nobody will tryï¼ è€¶ I’m chinese tooï¼this is my QQ number 282244397!
It’s funny,who will try?
haha,ä¸çŸ¥æ˜¯å“ªä¸ªæ— èŠçš„编辑å‘çŽ°äº†è¿™ä¸ªæ— èŠçš„网站引æ¥äº†ä¸€ç¾¤æ— èŠçš„人
tommyrot æ— èŠ wuliao
BEST GAME EVER! 䏿˜¯å—
I think I might try it… yeah im a loser I know…
I tried it last night,but… I finally give up…
è¿™ç¡®å®žæ¯”è¾ƒæ— èŠ
åžƒåœ¾ä¸€å¤§å †ï¼
新浪sinaçš„ç¼–è¾‘æ˜¯å¾ˆæ— èŠå•Šã€‚
holy crap! now you got chinese freaks getting into this. when are the japs gonna join. they like linear type of game play. this can’t get much better than this
hey everybody! we’re planning a tour to vegas in a real bus reconstructing the actual events in the game, if anyone wants to join me and Matt to share gas for the ride mail me at pt_bus_trip@busmail.con
….only limited seating is available so sign up soon!
A few friends and I finished this game.
Can’t say it’s really worth it other than feeling like you have beaten something so purely evil.
Is that $25 thing still in effect?
sorry
link
I played for a while, and then decided to see if I could have fun with it. I’ve got some Genie codes that should work in gens and i KNOW they work in neogenesis. Stop veering, lock the speed at ~120mph, and stop the bouncing. should I post them or no? i think the fun of this game is doing it with buddies…
è€å¤©,è¿™ä¸ªä¹Ÿå«æ¸¸æˆ?!
Top Game!!!. At 7:48 hours I had a nervous breakdown. I plan to try again as soon as I recover. I will get one point and, hopefuly, will unlock the Las Vegas-Tucson return trip. BEWARE, POTENTIAL SPOILER - I believe the bus could veer to the left in the way to Arizona.
bus driver, you obviously have no sense of humor because it is a joke, a spoof, a bit of fun. Nobody is going to sit there and play it for 8 hours(looks at Matt)..that’s the point!! How can anyone think it’s a serios game. My god some people are thick.
”
By karura on 03.14.06 3:32 pm
è€å¤©,è¿™ä¸ªä¹Ÿå«æ¸¸æˆ?!
”
karura said “Oh my god, you call this a game?”… for the foreign-language-offended.
The game was originally intended as a bit of political humor. At the time of it’s making, many voices led by Janet Reno were saying there was too much violence in video games.
So this game answers those claims by simulating real life driving in the most boring way imaginable.
I heard Penn Jillette talking about it on Free FM: http://penn.freefm.com/
Yo, wazzzup guys?
i played this game for the whole whopping trip………………..It’s pretty fun.
however , l hope some people can put it in server don’t use bt !!!
國內的åŒèƒžå¥½~我係香港人啦 = =
it is chinese~
在哪里下载啊ï¼å¬è¯´é€šå…³åŽå¯ä»¥å¾—到25美元的奖励,真的么。
this games rules
天!跳了11年了
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND!
how I can download this game?
can’t wait…any way to get those emulators for OSX?
How long is this game? I PLAYED FOR 8 HOURS AND IT DIDNT END. I then paused the game i came back later and it would start back up again. Badass game though.
LOL.. it would be fun if you got a slow computer and it actually takes more than 8 hours…….
Haha, great find!
Reminds me of the old computer game, Cross Country USA!
y cant we play this game online
Actually,about 4 hours in,a solitary cow tries to cross the highway.You just run over it for another point.Good times.
hi
Very nice site!
Does anyone know, was this a reference to that Terry Pratchett book? “Only You Can Save Mankind” or something. The main character’s best friend makes a game called “Journy to Alpha Centauri” which is pretty much the same. Except it takes the actual amount of time required to get there by rocket: several hundred years, or something.
i dont know how to play
hey this games rocks
hey i go to fall creek valley middle school
were do u go to play this game
lol, wtf
i want to play the game but how do i play
seriously wtf. if you dont know how to play then dont.
how do you get into the game
werea the game
God site. Thanks!
è¦æ˜¯æˆ‘æ—©å年出生,一定把这游æˆå‘扬光大。。。
you should play this while on a very long bus trip!! seriously it’s like frequest bus miles :)
Hi Lucy! Photo I received! Thanks!
chris wat did u do in cbr
OI! HOW DO I DOWNLOAD THIS GAME!
how do you press play
brilliant website but I wishI could play the game
http://hometown.aol.com/DrOlva3872/ DrOlva3873
brilliant website but I wish I could play the game
我日,真能拿到钱å—? 我愿æ„开。。。
hbpgvsk gfxjemd xjwovg djsnf jygrhqlk uokp zwsejpd
ur website is crap
[quote comment="1276"]This game is mad, i can’t take my eyes off it. I have 3 days of lunch still waiting for me at the table. Long live the wookies !!
Dr. Jones MD[/quote]
Haha! Brilliant idea. I think they should seriously consider selling this game as a cure for insomnia. lol :)
More like a cause for insomnia…amirite?
Me and my friend completed one round last night. It is the most boring thing I have ever done, but when you get there it is so satisfying. =] Take it in shifts of an hour..
Well…
How do we download?
It doesn’t work now……
this game is a load of ##**
“have a nice trip”
right but
..How do we download?
isitatree?
How do you download this game?
çok süper biþiye benziyo
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